I was between seven and eight years old when I arrived at my new master's house. My new mistress, Sophia Auld, seemed to be kind and tenderhearted. She introduced me to her son, Thomas, and told him that I would take care of him. That and running errands were to become my duties. It took a while before I got used to the sights and sounds of the city, and the other boys who would tease me for my country ways.
While inside the house I used to hear my mistress read the Bible out loud and wonder about the mysteries of reading. My confidence in her made me bold enough to ask her to teach me to read. She readily agreed and in a short time I had mastered the alphabet and could spell three and four letter words. Miss Lucretia became excited and told her husband about my progress and that she felt it her duty to teach me to read the Bible.